Method for sending a short message and debiting the recipient

ABSTRACT

A method for sending short messages using a debiting service with debiting to a recipient by the following steps: 1) receiving a short message from a sending number addressed to a recipient&#39;s number, with the addition of a prefix, the prefix being associated with the debiting service; ii) checking an authorization of the sending number to debit a cost of the short message to the recipient; iii) checking if a credit of the recipient is greater than the cost; and iv) if outcomes of both checks ii and iii are positive, sending the short message to the recipient.

DESCRIPTION

1. Technical field

The invention relates in general to the field of mobile telephony, andmore particularly to short message services (SMS) and the correspondingbilling processes.

2. Prior art

Telephone services which enable a call to be debited to the called partyare known; after the call request, if the called party consents to thedebiting, the connection is established and the call can take place.

However, at the present time there is only provision for billing thesenders of short messages. Clearly, the problems of billing therecipient of a message are fundamentally different from those of voicecalls, and in particular the different nature of the information contentand the corresponding transmission protocol require ad hoc solutionswhich are totally unrelated to the existing procedures for managingvoice calls debited to the called party.

The object of the present invention is to enable short messages to besent with the cost debited to the recipient, this debiting to therecipient being allowed only if the latter has previously authorized thesending number for the operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method forsending short messages with debiting to the recipient which enables boththe recipient's number and the data for the type of billing to therecipient to be sent together with the message.

Finally, another object of the present invention is to provide a methodfor sending short messages with debiting to the recipient which is basedon the typical network architecture of SMS management systems and whichuses communication protocols which are standard in the mobile telephonyfield, in order to make the service inexpensive and immediately usable.

These and other objects which will be made clear in the description areachieved by means of a method comprising the following steps.

-   1. A user wishing to debit the cost of a short message to the    recipient of the message provides the number with a prefix, e.g.    consisting of a short number, associated with a platform managing    the service. For example, if the recipient's number is 3351234567    and the short number is 4888, the user may dial 48883351234567.-   2. When it receives the message, the SMS center SMS-C forwards the    same to the platform managing the service, keeping the data relating    to the recipient number (prefix+number) unchanged.-   3. The platform managing the service checks that the recipient of    the message has authorized the sending number to debit the cost of    the short message to him.-   4. The platform also checks, via a suitable interface with the    billing systems, that the recipient has sufficient credit for the    operation to take place.-   5. If the outcome of both checks is positive, the platform sends the    message to the recipient.-   6. If the authorization check is negative, a courtesy message may be    sent to the sender, informing him that sending with debiting to the    recipient is not possible. The recipient may also be informed of the    sender's attempt to debit him, and of the procedures for activating    the system.

In order to provide an example of how the service can be implemented,without intent to limit the generality of the invention and its possiblefields of application, a specific embodiment of the invention isdescribed below with particular reference to FIG. 1 attached.

This figure shows the following message flow:

-   (1) User A sends the SMS with debiting to the recipient, by adding a    suitable prefix to the recipient's number. (2), (3) The SMS-C    receives the message, recognizes from the prefix that the SMS    message should be debited to the recipient and forwards the same to    the software platform SW-P, instead that sending directly to the    recipient.-   (4) The SW-P platform eliminates the prefix from the recipient's    number, in order to recognize the user B to which the message has to    be sent, and. checks the authorizations set by user B.-   (5) The SW-P platform checks the credit of user B.-   (6), (7), (8) If user A is not authorized for the debiting or user B    has insufficient credit, user A receives the courtesy message.-   (9), (10), (11) If user A is authorized for the debiting and user B    has sufficient credit, the SW-P platform forwards the short message    to the SMS-C, so that it can be sent to user B.

For user B, the fact that he is being billed is transparent because thereceived message shows the number of user A as the sender, as for anormal short message.

However, the sent message does not go directly to the recipient but isprocessed by the dedicated SW-P platform. The forwarding of the messagesfrom the SMS-C and the SW-P platform (and vice-versa) can be carried outby a protocol of the IP suite, such as for example by UCP (UniversalComputer Protocol).

Since the system evaluates the incoming message as originating from anapplication if it is identified by a number, a special arrangement canbe made for billing the message: the field of the UCP frame relating tothe sender is completed with the sender's number in alphanumeric type.The SMS-C recognizes that the sender field is of the alphanumeric typeand generates a traffic record (subsequently sent to the billingsystems) showing as sender the recipient's number, instead of thesender's number, and therefore enables the appropriate billing policiesto be used.

To encode a string as an alphanumeric OAdC field (the sender of theshort message), the following steps may be carried out:

-   1) The string is encoded in the 7-bit GSM alphabet (for example as    shown in table in GSM 03.38 or EMI specifications),.-   2) The “SMS Point-to-Point Packing” compression algorithm (described    in the GSM 03.38 specifications) is applied to the result of the    encoding.-   3) The number of half-octets produced by the compression algorithm    is then placed at the head of the resulting string.-   4) The resulting string is finally converted to the alphanumeric    representation which the UCP protocol will use for the messages.

Advantages and Possible Applications of the Invention

I—Short Message Debiting Options

Three different options are herein disclosed to determine the modes inwhich a user can authorize other users to debit short messages to hisnumber:

-   1. Unlimited: a number configured with this option can debit an    unlimited number of messages to the recipient.-   2. Numeric: a number configured with this option can debit a maximum    number N of messages, determined by the recipient. The number N set    initially is decremented on the transit of each short message and,    when the value reaches zero, the platform sends a courtesy message    to the sender, notifying him that short messages cannot be sent with    debiting to the recipient.-   3. Time-based: a number configured with this option can debit an    unlimited number of messages within a time interval specified by the    recipient. If the configured number sends a short message with    debiting to the recipient outside the entered time interval, it will    receive a courtesy message notifying it that the message cannot be    resent.    II—Web Management Interface

Easier access for the user can be provided by using the World-Wide Weband corresponding browsers.

A web interface enables the users to manage the lists of numbersauthorized for debiting. The allowed operations may be, for example:

-   1. Display of the list of authorized numbers.-   2. Addition of a new number to the list in one of the following    modes:    -   a. Unlimited authorization    -   b. Numeric authorization    -   c. Time-based authorization-   2. Activation/Disabling of a number already present on the list.-   3. Modification of the entries of numbers present on the list.-   4. Removal of a number from the list.    III—Service by Short Message

Access via mobile telephone may be also provided. For example, the userscan interact with the platform which manages the service by sendingspecial service SMs containing a special keyword. Most typicaloperations may include:

1. Entry of a New Number Authorized for Debiting in Unlimited, Numericor Time-Based Mode.

A user wishing to authorize a new number for debiting may send a shortmessage showing 4888<number to be activated> as the recipient, andinsert the keyword for this option into the message. A further keywordmay also be introduced, in order to specify the authorization mode. Forexample, if a number is inserted into the text in addition to thekeyword, the authorization will be of the numeric type; otherwise itwill be of the unlimited type. If the number that the user wishes toactivate is already authorized, the existing entry may be overwrittenwith the new request.

2. Removal of a Number Authorized for Debiting from the List.

A user wishing to remove a number authorized for debiting from the listmust send a short message showing 4888<number to be disabled> as therecipient, and insert the keyword for this option into the message.

3. Display of the List of Numbers

The user can receive information on the list of numbers which he hasconfigured, by sending a short message to a service number, such as forexample 48883, or, as another example, to the number 4888<own number>,as the recipient, and inserting the keyword for this option into themessage.

4. Request for Help

The user can send a help request message enabling him to receive acourtesy message containing the instructions for using the service byshort messages.

Provision may be also made for billing for the various operationsassociated with the activation, cancellation, status request or theservice management in general. For this purpose, each request may beanswered with a courtesy message in which the UCP OADC field (sender ofthe SMS) is set, together with a short number associated with thebilling which is to be applied for the specific service message. Forthis type of message, the sender field is not put in alphanumericformat; instead, the ordinary numeric format can be used (leaving theUCP OTOA field empty).

The keywords, the courtesy messages and the billing short numbers to beused for the service short messages can be determined from aconfiguration file of the platform.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A method for sending short messages using a debitingservice with debiting to a recipient, comprising the following steps: i.receiving a short message from a sending number addressed to arecipient's number, with the addition of a prefix, the prefix beingassociated with said debiting service; ii. checking an authorization ofthe sending number to debit a cost of the short message to therecipient; iii. checking if a credit of the recipient is greater thansaid cost; and iv. if outcomes of both checks ii and iii are positive,sending the short message to the recipient.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising the following step: v. if at least one outcome ofchecks ii and iii is negative, sending a courtesy message to a sender ofsaid short message, informing him that the debiting service is notpossible.
 11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein said step iicomprises checking if a maximum number of allowed short message to bedebited is greater than zero.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein stepiv further comprises decrementing said maximum number by one.
 13. Themethod of claim 9 or 10, wherein step ii comprises checking if a sendingtime of said short message is within a predetermined time interval. 14.The method of claim 9, wherein step iv further comprises decrementingsaid credit by said cost.
 15. The method of claim 9, wherein step ii iscarried out by checking a list of authorized numbers.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising the following step: allowing said recipientto display or update said list of authorized numbers.